Education

What is Regulation?

“Self-regulation is the ability to manage and recover from stress”

Dr. Stuart Shanker

Episode 1: The Neurosequential Model in Education. Dr. Bruce Perry introduces a universal model for education based on current neuroscience.

Episode 2: How Stress Impacts the Brain. What strategies are effective when managing dysregulated behaviours in the classroom? Dr. Bruce Perry explains state dependent functioning.

Episode 3: The Power of Connection. How to establish the relational connections that support learning.

Episode 4: Regulating Yourself and Your Classroom. Humans are social creatures and sensitive to the emotions of others in the room. Therefore, one of the best way of supporting learning is to take really good care of teachers. Dr. Bruce Perry explains why rhythm is regulating.

Episode 5: Strategies for the Classroom. Do rewards and consequences work? Dr. Bruce Perry advocates relational approaches such as collaborative problem solving.

What is Regulation and Why is it Important?

Put another way, regulation is the ability to effectively manage our thoughts, feelings and behaviours so that we can respond to the physical and social demands of everyday activities.

It is something we may not think about as adults, as we tend to take it for granted, but it is an essential part of how we function from day to day.

This skill is essential in enabling children and young people to access learning.

It also has implications for a wide range of long-term wellbeing outcomes, namely:

physical health
mental health
participation and inclusion
academic attainment
socioeconomic success
quality of life

The content of this site builds on training and development that has already been/ continues to be provided to schools in East Lothian on the topics of Attachment and Whole School Nurture. Learning in these areas, together with an understanding of Stress and Trauma are closely related and inter-connected.

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"Educators need the confidence to give all vulnerable children the time and space they need, despite the pressure to help them to catch up in their education. Without sufficient emotional support it is unlikely that these children will ever make the educational gains they are capable of."

April 2020 (at the time of the Pandemic)

Kim Golding

Energy States

Dr. Shanker likens the ability to regulate as a bit like driving a car:

If we aim to maintain a constant speed of 30 mph then we will need to adjust the pressure we apply to the brakes and the accelerator in order to allow for changes in in the road e.g. a steep hill or very gusty wind.

This is a bit like the need to regulate: different environments and activities will place different demands upon us and require differing amounts of energy.

Some individuals may tend to push too hard on the accelerator whilst others may jump between gears too quickly or are slow to break. We all need to master the ability to find the optimum 'speed' or state of arousal.

Emotions

It is normal and healthy to experience a wide range of emotions as we go through life. Regulation is not about getting rid of emotions but about understanding and managing our arousal state and emotions in a healthy way: the first step is always to validate emotions.

Our autonomic (unconscious) nervous system works together with our conscious use of regulation strategies throughout each day, to maintain a healthy, balanced state.

Babies depend heavily upon their caregiver to maintain this balance. As children grow, they gradually develop their capacity to self-regulate and remain calm, relying less on others around them for support.

Regulation involves understanding and managing our:

Feelings/ Emotions
Thoughts
Behaviours

Co-Regulation

Children develop the capacity to self-regulate and remain calm through the experience of being co-regulated. At any age, however, we all benefit from support from others. This is particularly true in times of higher stress. In the next section we'll look in more detail at examples of co-regulation and what is typically needed at each stage of development.

Regulation for Learning

Regulation is crucial to learning. When our bodies and nervous systems are in a calm state, the many different areas of the brain required for learning are highly inter-connected and able to work well together. When children and young people are in a calm and alert state, they are able to access their executive functioning skills and are Ready to Learn.

Learning new skills can be demanding, socially, cognitively and emotionally. It inevitably involves dealing with the unknown, taking risks and change. It requires the ability to make and tolerate mistakes.

Can you think of a time you learned a new skill and what it felt like to get started and to make errors along the way?

Executive Functioning

Executive Functioning skills are essential in learning. These are our higher order thinking skills and include:

Organisation, memory, sequencing, cause and effect, empathy, mind mindedness, reflection, logic, planning, impulse control, risk assessment, etc.

These skills take time to develop and only do so properly when lower brain functions are in a state of calm/alert, alongside mature adults, for considerable periods of time (Bomber, 2011).

KEY MESSAGES

Self-regulation is key in the foundation of lifelong functioning and long-term positive outcomes
Self-regulation can be taught and strengthened
The development of self-regulation is dependent upon the experience of co-regulation provided by adults at home and at school
Self-regulation can be disrupted by prolonged or pronounced stress and adversity

Please click through the site to find out more about:

How this capacity develops?
What can impact on the development of Regulation?
How to support Regulation?

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